Monthly Archives: August 2020

Am I a coward for having fled from it all? Here in reactionary Sweden – reactionary in the sense of still clinging on to progressive ideas – almost all the news from Britain and the USA is alarming. The demonstration … Continue reading →

As a lifelong anti-imperialist – well, almost lifelong; I supported Eden over Suez, but I was only fifteen at the time – I have no problem with ‘Rule Britannia’ and ‘Land of Hope and Glory’ being sung at this year’s Promenade … Continue reading →

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This I think is the final straw for me. It’s an email from the General Secretary of the Labour Party, David Evans, to Constituency branches, telling them what topics branches can and cannot discuss. ‘This will ensure that the business … Continue reading →

Speaking of science fiction… My friend Ken recently put me on to a new author – new to me, that is – whose books I am avidly gobbling for my holiday reading just now. His name is Cixin Liu, and … Continue reading →

‘Algorithms’ have suddenly come to be the magic solution to all problems. I think I’ve been a little behind the curve in realising this. Wikipedia defines the algorithm as a finite sequence of well-defined, computer-implementable instructions, typically to solve a … Continue reading →

If a nation’s identity is formed by its history, at least in part, then Britain at present appears to be forming a new identity in contravention of hers. I can scarcely believe what I see happening over the water in … Continue reading →

Living in Sweden as I do currently, I feel I should have some view of Sweden’s very different approach to Coronavirus from nearly any other country in the world. So here goes. In fact life here seems to be going … Continue reading →

My attitude towards Jews and Israel has been consistent for 70 years. (Before that, I can’t remember.) First of all, I had no attitude towards Jews at all; certainly not ‘the’ Jews – with the definite article. In my little … Continue reading →

Many years ago I developed a theory about the British aristocracy. This was long before Monty Python, or Blackadder Series 3, and before I had read any PG Wodehouse; but after I had met some of them at Cambridge. (It … Continue reading →